Week #12: Do you have enough space for what you want in your life?
March 19, 2006
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Welcome and Announcements
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In the News
Speaking in Charlotte, NC - March 25th
Join me at the Propelling Women Into Their Destiny Luncheon
Westin Hotel in Charlotte. Tickets are $55. Contact angie@valorieburton.com for more information. Other upcoming public appearances (more details in next week's newsletter): April 11 - Berea, Ohio (near Cleveland)
Baldwin-Wallace College April 13 - Tallahassee, Florida
Florida A & M University Cluster event April 19 - Omaha, Nebraska
ICAN Conference - Keynote speaker and panelist along with Gloria Steinem and Peggy Klaus April 22 - Washington, DC
Free, Favored and Fabulous event with Cheryl "Salt" James of rap group Salt N Pepa and author Dr. Sharon Allison Ottey April 28 - Raleigh, NC
Wake Chapel Baptist Church April 29 - Louisville, KY
2nd Annual Women's Conference, St. Stephen Church Early registration for Destined to Write! teleclass (a seminar I teach by phone, so you can call in from anywhere in the world)
This
one will fill up so if you are interested, I recommend enrolling now.
Destined to Write! is a teleclass for aspiring writers who want to be
published. It begins this spring on April 10th. Get the details
and register online at http://www.valorieburton.com/tele.html. If you
enroll by March 27th, you'll receive $30 off the teleclass fee.
This Week's Topic: Do you have enough space for what you want in your life?
Dear Friend, As I do interviews and speak on
the topic of my book, What's Really Holding You Back?, many people have
asked for the simple answer to that question. What I have discovered is
that often, it is not obvious what's holding us back from our vision.
For many people, it is the shaky foundation on which they operate that
most holds them back. With no room to give focus to what's really
important and a schedule that is consistently overloaded, the
opportunity to make significant progress towards key goals feels
elusive. This week, as you strive to meet deadlines or juggle
multiple responsibilities, I invite you to consider whether your
overloaded schedule is too crowded to truly pursue the goals that are
most important to you. One of the biggest causes of stress is
that we are constantly trying to do more with less. As a result, we
don't give ourselves much margin for error. Whether the issue is money,
time or rest, make a habit of giving yourself some leeway. Life has
taught me that, more often than not, things do not go exactly as
planned. If you make a habit of 'cutting it close,' you probably also
find yourself regularly stressed out because you never have enough time
to accomplish what you've set out to accomplish. There are
numerous examples of areas of our lives where a margin would help
reduce our level of stress and allow us to focus on what's most
important. Do you find yourself living an overloaded life? You keep
doing more and more and more until not only is there no margin between
your load and your limits, but you have overextended yourself and
exhausted your resources. Those resources can be time, money, workload,
volunteer work or other activities that stretch you beyond reasonable
limits. Whatever the case, creating a margin for yourself in your daily
life is essential to creating a life you love. Consider your answers to
some of the following questions to determine if you are suffering from
overload that may be holding you back from living your best life. 1. Do you find yourself running late on a regular basis? 2. Do you wait until the last minute to begin working on projects and then find yourself in a hurry to finish on time? 3. Is your level of debt (excluding your mortgage) more than you could pay off in a year with your existing income? 4. Are you always accessible to others (i.e., you carry a mobile phone, pager and check your messages constantly)? 5.
Do you feel as though the activities and projects you have committed to
on a day-to-day basis are more than you have time to complete? If
you answered yes to any of these questions you should ask yourself
whether you are overloading yourself. If so, what decisions do you need
to make that would allow you to create some margin so that you can
reduce your level of stress? The mentality that says that you
should do, buy and work as much as you possibly can is detrimental to
your well-being. It is also detrimental to your vision for your life.
So often it seems that as a society, we are doing more and more, and
enjoying less and less. Margin is the space you give yourself so that
you have room to create and maintain a joyful, fulfilling life.
My challenge to you this week:
Identify
at least one area in which you need more space - more margin for error.
Then identify at least one action you can take this week to create that
space and give yourself some margin.
Journaling question:
Ask yourself, "How could I create more space in my life on a permanent basis?"
Until next time ... Warm wishes,
 P.S. Encourage your friends and family by sharing this newsletter and invite others to subscribe! Just send them to
www.valorieburton.com, where they can enter their email address on the home page. Valorie
Burton, a life coach and speaker, is the author of Listen to Your Life,
Rich Minds, Rich Rewards and her latest, What's Really Holding You
Back?. She coaches groups and individuals to live their best lives.
Learn about her coaching groups and subscribe to her FREE,
inspirational e-newsletter at www.valorieburton.com.
Enroll Early for the Destined to Write! Teleclass
Destined to Write! is a teleclass for aspiring writers who want to be published. Space is very limited. This one will fill up so if you are interested, I recommend enrolling now. It begins on April 10th. Get
the details and register online at
http://www.valorieburton.com/tele.html. If you enroll now, you'll
receive more than 20% off the teleclass fee!
Please feel free to forward the Rich Minds, Rich Rewards E-Newsletter
to friends and colleagues, but please forward in its entirety. The Rich
Minds, Rich Rewards E-Newsletter is written and distributed by Inspire,
Inc. Copyright (c) 2005 Valorie Burton. All rights reserved. www.valorieburton.com.
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